Thunderbirds Series 1, Episode 4: Trapped in Space
by SatNavDan
Summary: Two children become trapped inside an old Space-Station Museum after the docking tube connecting it to the Shuttle breaks away and damages an oxygen tank. Thunderbird 3 is launched to the rescue. Beth works to seal the ruptured oxygen tank whilst Adrienne enters the space-station to rescue the children. Meanwhile, Lady Penelope has trouble with a vicious gun-runner.
1. Pre-Titles

SPACE-Station Alpha 2-1 was the oldest space-station in orbit around the Earth. It had been one of NASA's most advanced satellites launched in 2020. But almost fifty years later, it was now obsolete and no longer in use. Its sister satellites had all been decommissioned and dismantled, but Alpha 2-1 remained. It was still owned by NASA, but it had been converted into a museum so that people could come and see what life in space used to be like.

The man behind the idea to convert the space-station into a museum was a Colonel Hank Jameson. He had been the commander of Alpha 2-1 in the last ten years of its operating life and knew it better than any other astronaut had done. It had taken a lot of persuasion for the Board of Directors at NASA to allow permission for the space-station to be converted into a museum but eventually they relented. It wasn't so much that it would give away any of their former secrets, but because due to the age of the space-station, it might be dangerous. However, Jameson had gone to great lengths to make sure that it passed a typical NASA safety test before it could receive its first guests.

The idea of a space museum was greeted enthusiastically by the general public and soon ticket sales went through the roof. Now Space-Station Alpha 2-1 was receiving four sell-out tours seven days a week. Two brand-new space shuttles were built to carry up to twenty people at a time – the space-station could only hold so many people for what was only a ninety-minute tour. In total it was a three-and-a-half-hour round trip from Cape Kennedy. The journey to the space-station itself took just under an hour both ways with the shuttles passing at the halfway point.

Space-Station Alpha 2-1 had been receiving visitors for over a month now and had already been visited by over 1,000 people. On this particular day, Shuttle 1 had arrived right on schedule and docked with the station. Amongst the passengers was a family from London – Henry Brown, his wife Mary, daughter Judy and her younger brother Jonathan. For Jonathan, visiting the space-station was a dream come true for he wanted to be an astronaut when he grew up. In fact, the only reason they were there was because Jonathan had persistently nagged his father to get them tickets. Henry had eventually relented, but wasn't too impressed when Mary decided to turn it into a family outing. Judy wasn't impressed either. All she wanted to do was to stay at home with her boyfriend rather being dragged along to what she called 'A Nerd's World'.

"Oh, Henry, isn't it amazing?" gasped Mary gazing out of one of the space-station's windows at the Earth below. "This reminds me of our first picnic under the stars."

"Yes, well the sooner we're back on Earth the better," Henry retorted. "I'm not a confident flyer as you know, but this is rather too much for me."

"Are you having fun, Pumpkin?" Mary asked Judy.

"No, I am not!" Judy replied crossly. "And please stop calling me that! It's so embarrassing."

"Oh, come on, this is so awesome!" Jonathan cried running along the corridor and trying to bounce himself off the walls.

"Jonathan, don't do that!" barked Henry. "You'll hurt yourself and may even damage parts of the space-station. We're not getting billed for anything you've done."

"But if I'm going to be astronaut I need to know how to be able to float," Jonathan protested.

"Well you're _not_ going to be an astronaut," said Judy grumpily.

"You can be whatever you want, Peanut," said Mary which made Jonathan feel much better.

Just then the PA sounded. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your stewardess speaking. We are nearing the end of our visit so could all visitors please return to the shuttle. Thank you."

"At last," Henry said. "Come on everyone. Back to the shuttle."

"Aw, really?" complained Jonathan. "But I want to go round again."

"No, you can't go round again, Jonathan," said Henry firmly. "We're not getting left behind, now come on!"

The Browns were the last to reach the Boarding Tube. Henry and Mary led the way with Judy following. She was about to enter the tube when she realised something. Jonathan wasn't there. Sighing heavily, she turned round and hurried off to find him – without warning her parents.

She soon found Jonathan trying to climb into one of the space-station's cryotubes. "What the hell are you playing at?" Judy snapped grabbing her brother and dragging him away. "That shuttle isn't going to wait for us!"

"Why do you have to spoil my fun?" grumbled Jonathan.

Henry and Mary were oblivious to the fact their children weren't with them as they boarded the shuttle.

"How was your trip, Mr Brown?" asked the stewardess.

"Oh, it was amazing, thank you," said Mary, knowing that Henry would only grumble. "The kids loved it. Haven't you, darlings?"

There was no response from either of the children. All three looked round and realised they weren't there.

"Where the hell are they?" Henry demanded.

"Oh, God, Jonathan must've wandered off," sighed Mary. "Look, there they are! Judy's found him."

"I'm sorry about this," Henry apologised to the Stewardess.

"It's okay," the stewardess replied. "There's still a couple of minutes before we're due to depart."

Judy could see her parents waving to them from the shuttle. "You see?" she said to Jonathan. "I told you they'd be worried."

Jonathan said nothing. He just sulked as he followed his sister to the boarding tube.

Suddenly there was a loud THUD and the space-station began to shudder and shake. The boarding tube shook as well which caused the shuttle to as well. Red lights began flashing and alarms started ringing. Something was wrong – _very_ wrong.

5! (DUN)

4! (DUN)

3! (DUN)

2! (DUN)

1! (RUMBLE)

*Thunderbirds theme plays*

"THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!"


	2. Act I

The alarms continued to ring and the shuddering from both the space-station and the shuttle began to intensify.

"What's happening?" asked Captain Ashton, the shuttle's main pilot.

"I don't know, sir," replied the co-pilot. "I'm trying to find out."

" _Warning – Boarding Tube failure imminent!_ " said the computer that linked both the shuttle and the space-station.

The passengers in the shuttle were alarmed by the amount of shuddering. "What's happening?" cried a male passenger. "Are we breaking up?"

Jonathan and Judy had started to run towards the tube when the alarms first started. But to the horror of them and their parents, the airlock doors slammed shut before they could enter.

"We have to disengage, now!" Captain Ashton shouted.

The Stewardess came charging in. "Captain, the children are still aboard!"

But before the Captain could answer, there was a loud CRASH and the boarding tube broke away from the shuttle. A piece of debris sliced through one of the oxygen tanks creating a small gash in it.

The co-pilot frantically released their own docking clamps so that they were free of the now loose boarding tube. Henry and Mary both cried out in horror as they saw the large gap between them and the space-station. They could also see their two children staring out in disbelief.

"No…" Judy gasped. "The shuttle's gone without us!" She then rounded on her brother. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" she shouted. "IF YOU HADN'T WANDERED OFF WE'D HAVE BEEN ABOARD THAT SHUTTLE! NOW WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO, HUH?!"

Jonathan said nothing. He didn't know what to think or do.

Henry barged his way into the cockpit of the shuttle. "TAKE US BACK THERE NOW!" he bellowed at Captain Ashford. "MY CHILDREN ARE ON THERE!"

"Sir, the boarding tube broke away!" Captain Ashton replied. "We had to disengage before we were destroyed…"

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT CRAP, MAN!" thundered Henry. "TAKE US BACK THERE NOW! I'M ORDERING YOU…"

Henry was sweating and shaking like he'd been running through a sauna. He then suddenly fainted and collapsed on the control panel. It took the combined efforts of the co-pilot, stewardess and two of the male passengers to carry him out. Mary had collapsed against the door sobbing her eyes out. Her two beloved children were lost and alone.

Captain Ashton knew there was no chance that they could dock with the space-station again without the boarding tube. He was going to have to report this to his superiors. He also knew that with the damaged oxygen tank, the children would soon run out of air. They would need to be rescued quickly. He knew there was only one organisation that could do this job. He therefore turned on his radio and made the call.

"Calling International Rescue. Calling International Rescue. This is Alpha Shuttle 1. We have an emergency situation. Do you read me? Over."

* * *

Aboard Thunderbird 5, Becky and Katrina were on duty. Becky, who by now was used to handling Thunderbird 5's equipment, heard the call and responded. "This is International Rescue. Go ahead."

"Malfunction in Space-Station Alpha 2-1 museum," Captain Ashton said. "Boarding tube has broken away. There are two children trapped in the station and one of the oxygen tanks has been ruptured. Those kids won't have long. Can you help? Over."

Becky gulped. This was the first incident where she'd heard of children being involved. She opened her mouth but nothing came out. Katrina noticed this and took over. "Affirmative, Alpha Shuttle 1," she said. "International Rescue is on its way."

* * *

The co-pilot returned to the cockpit just as Captain Ashton had finished making the 'mayday' call. "You called for help?" he asked.

"Yes, International Rescue are going to get them out," Captain Ashton said. "I'd happily stay here and wait for them but we won't have enough fuel to get back to base if we do."

With deep regret, Ashton fired the shuttle's engines and began to fly away from the space-station leaving Jonathan and Judy shocked.

"Now what?" Judy asked.

Jonathan had an idea. "Maybe we could try and get the old radio equipment working," he suggested. "Then maybe we can get someone to come and rescue us."

"That's the best idea you've ever had in your life," remarked Judy.

Inside the shuttle, the other passengers weren't pleased that they were leaving the scene knowing full well that the children were trapped in the space-station.

"Why are we leaving?" demanded another male passenger. "Those kids are in danger!"

"We're fully aware of that, sir," said the stewardess but we have to return to Earth otherwise we'll run out of fuel and be stranded ourselves."

"Oh, that's marvellous!" said a female passenger. "And who exactly is going to save them now?"

"The captain's told me that he has contacted International Rescue," said the stewardess. "They'll get them out of there."

That made the passengers feel a little bit more relaxed but not by much. An off-duty doctor was tending to the still unconscious Henry whilst the stewardess was looking after Mary. Her eyes were as red as her coat due to all the crying she'd been doing. "What about our kids?" she whimpered. "What's happening to them?"

"They'll be fine, Mrs Brown," comforted the stewardess. "The captain has called International Rescue. They'll be okay."

* * *

It was mid-morning on Tracy Island when the call about the space-station incident came through.

"That's the situation, Mr Tracy," said Katrina. "Those kids urgently need our help."

"Don't worry, Katrina," said Daniel. "We'll get them out. Beth, Adie, you're up."

"F-A-B, Dad," the two girls said together.

Laura and Wizzy had to move from their seats so that Adrienne and Beth could sit in them. Once they'd sat down, the chairs began to descend into the floor. The gap was soon filled by two spare chairs so that there wasn't a huge gap left in the floor. After reaching a tunnel below the mansion, they were transferred a short distance on a trolley before being turned to face forwards. The chairs then split up as they travelled through two separate tunnels where robot arms helped them into their uniforms. The chairs were also turned around so that they re-joined the main tunnel facing backwards. They soon reached the very tall silo where Thunderbird 3 was located and a big yellow robot arm lifted them up to a hatch located just down from the nose cone. Once that had connected the rails inside, the chairs travelled forwards into the cockpit. The angle changed as they were now facing upwards in the direction of travel. Now Beth and Adrienne were at the controls of their craft, the hatch was sealed and the giant revolving blast door sealed off all access to the silo and the big door at the top under the library roundhouse was opened ready for the launch.

5…4…3…2…1!

The mighty engines of Thunderbird 3 fired and it rose up through the silo and through the roundhouse, climbing high into the sky.

"Thunderbird 3 is go!" said Beth.

Once in orbit, they contacted Thunderbird 5 to get more information. They found that Kerry was now on duty having been alerted to the situation.

"What do we know about this space-station, Kerry?" asked Beth.

"Alpha 2-1 is the oldest space-station left in orbit," explained Kerry. "It has a museum for well over five weeks now. But as far as we knew it passed its safety test with flying colours. Colonel Jameson did a lot of work on it to make sure it was safe."

"Clearly they must have missed something," said Adrienne.

"How exactly are you going to dock with the space-station?" Daniel asked joining the conversation. "Didn't the shuttle pilot say that the boarding tube had been damaged?"

"Guess we'll have to use our spaceboards to get across," said Beth. "But…"

"How are we going to get the kids between there and Thunderbird 3?" said Adrienne. "Yes, I've been trying to work that out as well."

"I think I might have a solution to that problem," said Jodie. "You might want to check your equipment cupboard. There's a new invention of mine that might just be what you need. It's an inflatable blue space bag with a red plastic holder. It should be big enough for both of them to fit inside providing they're small enough."

Beth and Adrienne looked approvingly at each other.

"I believe we also have some of that tank sealant foam that we can use to repair the damaged oxygen tank aboard as well," said Beth.

"So one of us can rescue the kids whilst the other repairs the damage to the space-station's tanks?" said Adrienne. "Sounds like a plan, sis."

"Good luck," Daniel said. "I won't make any further transmissions so as to not interrupt you. Jodie and Kerry will however still maintain contact should you require any assistance."

"Thanks, Dad," said Beth. "E-T-A to space-station, seven minutes."

* * *

Jonathan and Judy had been busy trying to work out how to get the radio equipment of Alpha 2-1 working. It wasn't easy, but Judy used all the tricks she'd learned from her father to fix any electrical issues.

"Uh-oh," Jonathan said suddenly. "What does this red flashing light mean?"

Judy looked over at the control panel. "Oh, dear," she sighed. "I think that means the oxygen supply is running low. I just hope this radio equipment still works." She picked up the microphone and pressed the button. "Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Can anyone hear me? We need help."

Incredibly, Judy had managed to get the radio equipment working much to the astonishment of the girls aboard Thunderbird 5.

"Where's that coming from?" asked Becky.

Katrina checked her computer. "Good heavens!" she exclaimed. "It's coming from that space-station! But I thought all its equipment had been decommissioned!"

"Those kids must have got its communication system working again," Kerry said. "Let me speak to them." She pressed a button on her desk. "This is International Rescue. We read you loud and clear."

Judy and Jonathan were just as amazed that they'd got the old equipment to work. "Oh, my God! International Rescue, my name is Judy Brown. I'm with my brother Jonathan. We're trapped aboard the space-station museum. I don't know what happened but the tunnel that connected it to the shuttle broke off, and now we're running low on oxygen. Please help us!"

"Okay, Judy, I need you to calm down!" said Kerry, noticing that Judy was starting to sound like she was about to cry. "You'll be pleased to know that the pilot of the shuttle already informed us of your predicament. In fact, if you look out one of the windows, you might see Thunderbird 3 coming towards you."

Jonathan and Judy hurried to the nearest window and looked out. Their eyes widened with awe at the sight of the big red rocket which was approaching the space-station.

"Can you see her?" Kerry asked over the radio.

"Yes!" said Judy excitedly. "Yes, we can!"

"Good," said Kerry. "Now just sit tight and stayed tuned to this frequency. We may need your help at some point. I'll be in touch." Kerry switched frequencies. "Did you hear that, Thunderbird 3?"

"Certainly did, Thunderbird 5," answered Beth. "Wow, those kids are smart!"

"Making our final approach now," said Adrienne. "How we going to do this, Beth?"

"I don't mind," replied Beth. "You get the kids and I'll fix the oxygen tank?"

"Deal," said Adrienne removing her seat safety-bars. "I'll go and get the equipment we'll need." She got up from her seat and headed over to the equipment cupboard located behind the cockpit whilst Beth brought Thunderbird 3 into free-float close to the space-station.

Adrienne returned carrying a foam-pad and the blue inflatable ball that Jodie had told them about.

"Is that it?" asked Beth, looking at the ball. "It's a bit small."

"Jodie, are you sure they're both going to fit in this?" asked Adrienne.

"It'll adjust its size to adapt to those inside it," Jodie replied. "But it can only hold two at a time."

"Then it's lucky that's all we've got to rescue," said Adrienne.

"Girls, you'd better hurry," Kerry interrupted. "Judy says that they're running low on oxygen."

"F-A-B," Beth and Adrienne said together. They put on their helmets and then stepped onto their spaceboards. The hatch in the roof of Thunderbird 3 opened and they headed out towards the space-station. Adrienne was carrying the spaceball whilst Beth carried the foam-pad.

* * *

During the 20th Century, London's docks had been mostly located within the city itself. In the latter part it moved to the Isle of Dogs and further down the river. With those areas now vastly developed, Port of London was now based primarily at Tilbury near Southend. This was where all the large container ships brought their cargo as they were too big to get any further down the River Thames. The port was always busy twenty-four hours a day. So much goods travelled in and out that it wasn't difficult for the occasional load of contraband sneaking past the authorities.

Preventing the entrance of several illegal weapons into the country was the reason for why Lady Penelope was making her way into docks this very night with Parker and FAB1. They were on a mission to bust gun-runner Oswald Cobblepot who was believed to be attempting to smuggle a large shipment of guns, grenades and other weapons through the port from his ship – _The Final Offer_. But first, they were going to have to get past the port's security.

"We're h'approaching a checkpoint, m'lady," said Parker. "'ow do you want to play it?"

"We don't have time for a lot of diplomacy on this job I'm afraid, Parker," replied Penelope. "Activate the stealth-mode so we'll be hidden from the CCTV."

"Yus, m'lady," said Parker. He pressed a button on the dashboard. FAB1 was still visible to the naked eye but to CCTV cameras, it was invisible. Even Penelope and Parker themselves couldn't be seen by them.

The Security Guard on the gate was rather curious to see FAB1 pull up at the barrier.

"Good evening, officer," said Penelope.

"Er, good evening, Your Ladyship," the Guard said. "What brings you here?"

"I'm here to see Oswald Cobblepot," Penelope said. "I heard his ship was docked here so thought I'd come and pay him a surprise visit."

"I see," said the Guard. "Well, we don't normally allow unplanned visits, but I think we can make an exception just this once. You're clear to proceed."

"Thank you, officer," said Penelope sweetly as the barrier gate opened to let FAB1 pass through.

"That was h'easier than h'expected, wasn't h'it, m'lady," said Parker.

"Quite," agreed Penelope. "But I don't think we'll be having it as easy as that again tonight."

FAB1 drove through the docks until it was close to the berth where _The Final Offer_ was moored. Not wanting to catch unwanted attention, Parker parked the car behind a group of containers. "Will this do, m'lady?"

"Perfect," said Penelope. "We'll proceed on foot from here."

They left FAB1 on lock-down mode and made their way on foot towards the warehouse next to the berth. They had to duck into the shadows a couple of times to avoid being spotted by passing dock workers. Then they had to dive behind some crates when a forklift truck came round the corner.

"What the?!" exclaimed the dock worker driving the forklift. "Funny, I thought I saw someone. Must be imagining things."

Parker and Penelope lay still and silent until the forklift had driven off into the warehouse.

"That was close, m'lady," said Parker.

"Indeed, Parker," agreed Penelope. "Far too close."

They continued on their way and soon found their way onto the roof of the warehouse where they could crouch down and get a good view of what was going on aboard the ship. Men shouted to one another as crates were unloaded from the forward cargo hold of _The Final Offer_. A quick scan with her x-ray binoculars confirmed what Penelope suspected.

"That crate's got guns in it, Parker," Penelope whispered. "I can't say how many there are for sure but there must be at least twenty inside."

"Cor blimey!" exclaimed Parker. "Your contact was right, wasn't 'e?"

Penelope looked over towards the superstructure of _The Final Offer_. Looking through the binoculars again, she saw two smartly-dressed women walking along the deck. One was blonde with a white coat, trousers and boots on, the other was dark-skinned with black hair and a dark blue dress with black trousers and brown boots on. And walking between the two ladies was a very short and stumpy man with a brown fur coat on and a cigar in his mouth. He was also carrying an umbrella in his left hand.

"Parker…" Penelope whispered. "There he is."

Parker lifted up his own binoculars and looked at the stout man Penelope had pointed out. "Cor!" he exclaimed. "'e's really _h'is_ h'as ugly h'as they say 'e is!"

"Shhh!" hissed Penelope. "Someone might hear you!"

"OI, WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP HERE?!"

Penelope and Parker jumped and looked round to see two dock workers had come up onto the roof for a cigarette break.

"Damn it!" said Penelope. "Let's go!"

As the two men approached, Penelope and Parker jumped to their feet. Parker tackled one of the men whilst Penelope sent the other one flying with a well-placed kick. The man went flying backwards and disappeared over the side of the building.

A klaxon started blaring out alerting the security personnel that something was wrong. Penelope and Parker tried to make a run for it, but before they were able to get to the stairs, a group of armed men, all with penguin heads on their clothes appeared and blocked them off. Another group of port security officers appeared from the staircase that they'd come up on. There was nowhere for them to go.


	3. Act II

Adrienne and Beth flew together until they were almost at the space-station and then split up. Beth headed for the oxygen tanks whilst Adrienne carefully approached the outer airlock door.

"Okay, Kerry, I'm at the airlock," said Adrienne. "There's a keypad on the left-hand side. I don't suppose you'd happen to know it, would you?"

"I do actually, Adie," Kerry replied. "I've been in contact with the people at NASA and they've given me the codes for the airlock and any other obstacles that you may encounter."

"Super!" said Adrienne. "Now what's the code?"

"The entry code for the outer door is seven-eight-two-zero," said Kerry.

Adrienne typed the numbers into the keypad and the door opened. "At least the doors are still working," she said as she went inside and waited for the door to close behind her. "Now for the inner one."

"Four-six-one-two," said Kerry.

Adrienne typed the numbers in and the inner door opened. She walked into the space-station and found the two children waiting for her. "Hey, guys," she said. "How you holding up?"

"We're so glad to see you," said Judy. "Er, what's your name?"

"Adrienne. Call me Adie – everyone does. You must be Judy and Jonathan."

"Wow!" said Jonathan excitedly. "Another girl."

Adrienne frowned slightly. "Is that a problem?" she asked.

Jonathan gulped as he realised what he'd said. "Er, no, not at all," he said hastily. "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

Adrienne smiled as she removed her helmet. "Forget it," she said.

"Where's the other one?" asked Judy. "I thought I saw two of you out there?"

"That would've been my sister Beth who you saw," said Adrienne. "She's gone round to try and fix up that damaged oxygen tank."

At that moment, Adrienne's watch communicator beeped. "Adie, it's Beth. Do you read me?"

"Go ahead, Beth."

"I'm at the damaged area," said Beth. "I can plug the hole easily enough but Kerry's told me it'll need to be filled up again before anyone can come aboard it again. Apparently NASA want us to do it for them."

"You want me to find the controls and transfer the oxygen from inside?" asked Adrienne.

"If you could, that would be great," said Beth as she put the foam-pad carefully over the gash in the tank. "There. The breach is now sealed. How are the kids doing?"

"They're fine," said Adrienne as she and the two children walked round to the control room. "I think they're a lot calmer now that we're here."

Judy and Jonathan both nodded in agreement.

"I'm kind of glad this has happened now," Jonathan whispered to his sister.

Judy looked at him with raised eyebrows, but then smiled in agreement.

"Right then," said Adrienne looking at the control panel. "May need some help here. Kerry, Beth's told me NASA want us to refill the oxygen tank?"

"Yes, they do," replied Kerry. "I've got the steps here in front of me. It's pretty simple but I'll talk you through it."

"Thanks," said Adrienne. "We'll have to make this quick though, the air is starting to feel a little thin in here."

"It won't take more than three minutes," Kerry said. "Now here's what you do…"

* * *

It wasn't very often that Laura, Katie and Wizzy were alone together whilst on Tracy Island. However, they were taking full advantage of it. Joanne, Sian and Cassidy were having a day out to Sydney and Karolina was out chasing a possible lead on The Hood so there was only them, Daniel, Zoë, Jodie, Rosie and Leanna on the island. Leanna was in bed sleeping after the long day they'd had before. Zoë was busy in the kitchen preparing lunch and Daniel, Jodie and Rosie were all in the lounge listening to the rescue operation.

"I wonder how it's going up there?" Wizzy said as she watched her two eldest sisters having a go on the pool table in the games room.

"Must be going smoothly otherwise we would have heard commotion in the lounge," Laura said with a chuckle. She bent down and took a shot at a yellow ball. It was a perfect shot as it went straight down the central hole in the left side of the table.

"Beth and Adie always seem to have the easy missions," said Katie. "The toughest ones are the ones we handle."

"Oh, I'd have to disagree with that," said Laura as she prepared to take another shot. "Space is the most dangerous place there is. They've had a couple of near-misses with the sun, not to mention the lunar incidents last year." She took her shot at the yellow ball. This one didn't go as smoothly as the last though. The yellow ball bounced off a cushion and the white ball went down another hole. "Bugger!" she said.

"Oh, yes the Lunar-4 incidents," said Wizzy. "Hope we never have to deal with those things again."

"Agreed," said Katie as she went to take a shot at a red ball. "Two shots, isn't it?"

Laura and Wizzy nodded and watched as Katie knocked three red balls down one after the other. She had potted all the reds one now so took a shot at the black. That went down as well.

Laura sighed and passed her cue to Wizzy. "Your turn," she said.

* * *

Whilst the girls were enjoying themselves in the games room, Zoë brought some fresh drinks into the lounge for Daniel, Jodie and Rosie.

"Any news from the girls?" Zoë asked.

"Beth has sealed the damaged oxygen tank and Adrienne's inside rerouting spare oxygen from the reserve tanks," said Daniel. "At least the children are in safe hands."

Kerry then appeared on the hologram-screen. "I've just been on the line with the controller at Cape Kennedy. He says that the children's parents are safely back on Earth recovering and have been informed that their children safe."

"Recovering, did you say?" said Daniel. "What happened?"

"Seems they were very distressed when the shuttle broke away from the station," explained Kerry. "Mr Brown even forced his way into the cockpit and tried to force the captain to go back before he fainted."

"Can't say I blame them for getting like that," said Rosie. "Any parent getting separated from their children like that can be upsetting. Especially in a situation like this one."

"Kerry, you'd better tell Beth and Adrienne to take them back to their parents as soon as they're aboard Thunderbird 3," said Daniel. "The sooner they're reunited, the better Mr and Mrs Brown will be."

"F-A-B," said Kerry and she signed off.

Daniel picked up his cup of tea from the tray Zoë was holding and took a sip. "Mm, yes," he said approvingly. "Perfect as always, Mum. Thank you." He paused whilst he drank some more. "I wonder what Penny's up to at the moment?"

"Hasn't exactly had much to do for us lately, has she?" agreed Jodie.

"Maybe I should've give her a call," Daniel said.

"Penelope does a lot more than just work for us, Daniel," Zoë said. "She has other things going on as well, remember? If I know Penelope, she's probably tied up with something."

* * *

"Well this is rather distressing," Penelope remarked as she and Parker were hoisted over the deck of _The Final Offer_ by the dock crane. Having been brought aboard the vessel by the henchmen of Oswald Cobblepot, they had been tied back-to-back before being attached to the hook of the crane and lifted up.

Cobblepot stepped forwards and took a puff on his newly-lit cigar. He was chuckling with delight as he watched his captives get positioned just above where he was standing. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward," he said. "Oh, this is just perfect. The perfect payback for what your family did to mine!"

"Don't think you'll be able to get away with this, Cobblepot," said Penelope. "The authorities will catch up with you sooner or later."

Cobblepot laughed. "Oh, no they won't, Your Ladyship," he said. "They'll keep their distance so long as I am 'ere. Nothing a few well-placed bribes cannot sort out, eh?"

"So, that's 'ow 'e does h'it," Parker whispered to Penelope.

Cobblepot turned to his two female assistants. "Maybe you can 'elp me out 'ere, loves?" he said. "Now that I've got Lady Penelope and that pathetic excuse of a bodyguard of 'ers, I don't exactly know what I should do with 'em. What do ya think, Tracey?"

The woman in white looked up at Penelope and Parker. "They have no right to poke their noses into your business," she said. "Kill them now!"

Cobblepot nodded thoughtfully. "Too right they bloody have no right to be 'ere," he agreed. Then he turned to the dark-skinned woman. "Candy, do you 'ave any thoughts?"

"Nah, killing them is way too easy, Oz," the woman said. "I think we ought to find out what they know before we dispose of them."

Cobblepot seemed to prefer Candy's idea. "The slow and painful way, eh?" he said. "I like 'ow you think, Candy."

Tracey sniffed slightly. Cobblepot always seemed to favour Candy more than he did her. She turned her head away in annoyance.

"So what do ya say, Lady Penelope?" Cobblepot called up. "What's it gonna be? A quick and easy death, or a nice slow and painful one?"

"I chose neither, thank you, sir!" Parker said defiantly.

"Shh!" Penelope hissed.

"That's right, you tell 'im!" laughed Cobblepot. "I DIDN'T ASK FOR YOUR OPINION, DID I?!"

Parker grimaced. He wasn't really listening to Cobblepot. Instead he was trying a trick he'd learned from his army days to try and wiggle his hands free for the rope trying them together. It was working and he could it loosening. Once he'd got his hands free he then began to carefully start to undo the rope binding Penelope's hands.

"Well?" Cobblepot asked. "I said what's it gonna be?!"

"What does it matter?" asked Penelope. "You're gonna get your arse kicked whatever you decide to do with us!"

"Ooooh, I'm scared!" Cobblepot spun himself around laughing loudly. "Did ya hear that, boys! Her Ladyship 'ere says I'm gonna have my arse kicked!" He then roared with laughter and several of his henchmen joined in. Candy began to giggle as well but Tracey remained silent. "Oh, you're a real funny one, aren't you, Penelope?" Cobblepot went on. "Let's see if you're still laughing after I show you what happens to people who MOCK ME!"

Cobblepot pointed his umbrella at the central cargo hold which up until this point had remained closed. One of the henchmen pressed a button and the doors began to open. It was filled almost to the top with water. At first, Penelope and Parker couldn't see any reason to be worried until they noticed a large grey object moving around inside.

"Blimey o'reilly!" exclaimed Parker. "It's h'a flippin' shark!"

"Swing them over!" Cobblepot said into a walkie-talkie.

"With pleasure," answered the man who was operating the crane. The arm of the crane moved round until Penelope and Parker were suspended directly above the cargo hold.

"Can you see my little friend down there?" Cobblepot asked pointing toward the shark. "Meet Tiny. Who'da thought a big fish would be so useful? Not me that's for sure!" He cackled. "He's like a mobile garbage truck. Anything that I drop in that tank just vanishes. Hahaha! Problem gone!"

"You're insane, Cobblepot!" said Penelope angrily. "You can't keep a poor innocent animal in a tank like that!"

But Cobblepot only laughed again. "Do you really think I give a bloody toss about that?" he asked. "Tiny has only one use as far as I'm concerned and he provides it without any fuss." He then spoke to the crane driver again. "Dunk 'em!"

Penelope and Parker's hearts leapt slightly as the crane began to lower them down towards the tank. They could see the shark swimming just below the surface of the water. Penelope then felt the rope around her wrists slacken. Parker had done it. It was now or never if they were to escape from this predicament.

"Now, m'lady?" asked Parker.

"Now, Parker," replied Penelope.

They moved their arms quickly out from behind their backs and slipped through the ropes that had bound them together and to the hook of the crane.

"WHAT?!" shrieked Cobblepot as Penelope and Parker used their hands and feet to push themselves to the opposite sides of the shark tank where they both landed safely on the deck.

Penelope had landed on the side that Cobblepot was standing on. He backed away nervously with Tracey and Candy as Penelope began to approach them with a seriously stern look on her face.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU STANDING ABOUT FOR?!" Cobblepot bellowed at his henchmen. "GET THEM!"

The henchmen all raised their machine-guns and began firing at Penelope and Parker who had to dive behind some fixtures on the ship's deck to take cover.

"Are you h'okay, m'lady?" Parker asked via Penelope's watch.

"I will be when this is over, Parker," Penelope replied. "Let's just finish this, shall we? And try not to get yourself shot in the process, hmm?"

"Right you are, m'lady," replied Parker with a chuckle. He saw two henchmen heading towards him. He cracked his knuckles and threw himself into the fight.

* * *

With the help of Kerry, Adrienne had been successfully able to transfer some of the oxygen from the reserve tanks into the now repaired tank. Beth was now waiting outside the airlock for her to come out with the children.

"How you doing in there?" Beth asked her sister.

"We're doing okay in here, Beth," Adrienne replied. "Just making our way back towards the airlock now."

"Let's hope that spaceball is big enough to carry them both," said Beth. "If it can't, we'll have to try and think of something else."

Adrienne, Judy and Jonathan were now at the inner entrance to the airlock.

"How are we going to get across to your ship?" asked Judy.

"Do we get to spacewalk too?" asked Jonathan excitedly.

"Not exactly," replied Adrienne as she unpacked the spaceball. "More likely space- _float_!"

Judy and Jonathan watched in amazement as Adrienne pulled a pin and the spaceball began to get bigger until it was roughly the same size as the two of them put together. It had a flap which would allow them to get inside.

"Ladies first," said Adrienne to Judy who climbed excitedly into the ball. It them seemed to get even bigger allowing Jonathan plenty of space to get inside as well before Adrienne sealed the flap to make it airtight. "You'll be safe in there until we get back to Thunderbird 3," she said. She then put on her helmet and typed numbers into the airlock keypad. But to her surprise, the door didn't open. she tried again, but it still didn't work. "Kerry, something's wrong," she said. "The door isn't opening."

"Have you put in the correct numbers?" Kerry asked.

"Six-four-one-two, wasn't it?" Adrienne asked.

"You got the first two the wrong way round," said Kerry.

"Oh, silly me!" sighed Adrienne, trying very hard not to laugh at what she felt was such an obvious mistake. "Four-six-one-two!" she said as she typed the numbers into the keypad. This time the door did open and she went inside towing the spaceball with the children in behind her. It was lucky that the airlock was designed to hold up to ten people otherwise the spaceball wouldn't have fitted inside. However, no sooner had the inner doors closed when the alarm started ringing again accompanied by flashing red lights.

Adrienne remembered the outer door code without any problems this time and soon they were outside the space-station where Beth was waiting for them.

"Had a spot of trouble did you?" Beth asked.

"Not really," Adrienne replied. "Got just my numbers mixed up, that's all."

Beth began to chuckle. "No wonder it took you three attempts to pass your maths exam," she teased as she suddenly raced away on her spaceboard.

"Oi!" Adrienne exclaimed as she chased after her sister. "Get back here right now, Beth! I'm going to hurt you for that!"

Judy and Jonathan couldn't help but laugh as well. They were both having such fun flying through space inside such a small object. However, their happiness didn't last long when Judy happened to glance back at the space-station and noticed something odd.

"Why are the red lights flashing again?" Judy asked.

Jonathan, Beth and Adrienne looked around. Every window in the space-station's outer walkway was illuminated by bright red flashing lights meaning that there was something wrong.

"That doesn't look right," said Beth.

Just then the urgent sound of Kerry's voice rang through their helmet radios. "GIRLS, GET BACK IN THUNDERBIRD 3, NOW!"

They did so and closed the hatches. The oxygen was quickly replenished so that they were able to remove their helmets and let the children out of the spaceball.

"Kerry, what's wrong?" Beth asked.

"That wrong number that Adie put in was the self-destruct code!" Kerry said. "You have to get away from there, now! You've only got ninety seconds!"

Adrienne's skin went white. Now her silly little mistake had turned out to be a really stupid one.

"Strap in," Beth told the others.

Jonathan and Judy quickly sat themselves in the passenger seats in the cockpit whilst Adrienne jumped into her seat at the controls.

Adrienne was looking at the space-station. "Hang on, what'll happen when it explodes?" she asked. "Won't it fall back to Earth?"

"If it does then hopefully it'll burn up on re-entry," said Beth. "Now hold…"

"No, Beth, we have to get it away from here!" Adrienne cried. "What if it doesn't burn up? What's going to happen if it crashes on top of a populated area?"

Beth looked at the Earth, realising what her sister was saying. "Yeah, you're right," she agreed. "Thunderbird 5, how long have we got before it explodes?"

"Sixty seconds," Kerry said. "Why aren't you moving away?"

"We're going to tow it out into space where it can explode and not cause any trouble," Beth said. "And don't ask us if we're crazy, we're not!"

Before Kerry could reply, Thunderbird 3 began to approach the space-station. Adrienne activated the grappling arms before firing a cable onto it.

"Firing main boosters," said Beth. "Hold tight!"

Thunderbird 3 raced forwards and pulled the space-station out of orbit. They then began to head off into space to get it as far away from the Earth as they could.

On Tracy Island, Daniel and the others had been alerted to what Thunderbird 3 was doing and they were alarmed.

"Have they gone crazy?" asked Laura.

"No they haven't," Kerry said. "Beth already insisted that they weren't."

"How long have they got?" asked Katie.

"Less than forty seconds!" said Daniel. "Girls, that's far enough, let it go!"

Beth ignored her father and continued on.

"Thunderbird 3, you've only got thirty seconds remaining!" Kerry cried. "Get out of there or it'll take you with it!"

"Finally, I thought you were never going to say that," Beth remarked. She cut Thunderbird 3's engines and spun the rocket around releasing the cable at the same time before firing the engines again and racing back past the space-station heading back towards Earth.

The space-station continued to spin on the same course it had been towed as Beth and Adrienne watched via the rear-view camera aboard Thunderbird 3. Then there was a bright light and a thunderous roar as the space-station exploded and disappeared from view.

"Phew!" Adrienne and Beth gasped together.

"Wow, that was amazing!" remarked Jonathan.

"Bit too close for my liking though," said Judy.

Daniel then appeared on the hologram-projector and he didn't look happy.

"Sorry, Dad," Adrienne said quickly. "We were afraid that the space-station might fall back to Earth after it exploded."

"We didn't have time to debate," Beth added.

This made Daniel and Kerry not feel as angry as they had been as they could now understand the girls' reasons for what they'd done.

"Are you all okay?" Daniel asked.

"Yes, we're fine," said Adrienne. She glanced back. "We're all fine."

Daniel smiled. "Fantastic," he said. "Take them back to Cape Kennedy. Their parents are waiting for them."

"Aw, do they have to?" asked Judy. "This is so much fun!"

Beth and Adrienne looked at each other. Neither could think of any reason to keep them aboard Thunderbird 3.

Then Kerry popped up with an idea. "Tell you what, why don't you show your guests what a _proper_ space-station looks like?" she said with a wink to Beth and Adrienne.

"Flypast or visit?" asked Beth.

"Flypast of course," said Kerry. "They've been separated from their parents for long enough but we can at least show them something that no other child has ever seen before."

"F-A-B," said Beth as she changed Thunderbird 3's course.

"Where are we going?" asked Jonathan.

"Wait and see," replied Beth with a smile.

It wasn't long before the children found out. Adrienne called them up to the front of the cockpit so they could see out the windows.

"There," Adrienne said. "What do you make of that?"

Jonathan and Judy's eyes went wide with wonder as Thunderbird 3 began a slow and steady run around Thunderbird 5.

"It's enormous!" gasped Judy.

"Why did we have to visit that rubbish old museum?" Jonathan asked. "That is so much cooler!"

Beth and Adrienne smiled at each other. Kerry, Becky and Katrina had been listening in and smiled too. They were glad that they'd been able to make the two children very happy. They moved over to the large window so that they could watch Thunderbird 3 as it passed around them.

"Can you see us?" Kerry asked as she, Katrina and Becky started to wave.

"Yes, we can!" Judy laughed as she and Jonathan waved back. "Thank you so much for this!"

"You're welcome," said Kerry. "Now get them back to Cape Kennedy, girls. Their parents will be wondering what we're doing with them."

"F-A-B," said Beth and Adrienne together as Thunderbird 3 headed away from Thunderbird 5.

* * *

"TIME TO DIE, OLD MAN!" one of Cobblepot's henchmen shouted as he fired his gun at the location where he believed Parker was hiding. But when he went to look, he found that nobody was there. Then Parker jumped out from behind another crate and wrestled him to the ground before he finally finished him off with a knockout punch.

"Take h'a nap, h'old boy," Parker said as he went to tackle one of the other henchmen.

Penelope was facing off against two more henchmen who were blocking her access to Cobblepot. One of them was armed with a knife, the other with a steel bar.

"You wouldn't hit a defenceless lady, would you?" Penelope teased.

"Shut up, lady!" snapped the man with the bar. He lunged forwards and tried to hit Penelope but she ducked and then punched him in the face before he could swing back again.

"You're going down!" shouted the man with knife now trying to cut her with it. Penelope managed to dodge the blade before grabbing his wrist and squeezing it so hard that he dropped it. She then kneed him in the groin before kicking him in the stomach which sent him flying backwards. Cobblepot yelled and Tracy and Candy screamed as they ran to avoid getting hit.

Parker had managed to take down two more henchmen before he was faced by one with a mini-gun. There was no way he was going to tackle this one head-on.

"You're going to die here!" the mini-gunner said as he fired at the crates Parker was using for cover forcing him to make a run for it.

"Whoa! PARKER!" Penelope cried in horror in between fighting another three henchmen. For a moment she thought he'd been hit, but then Parker came flying up from behind a container having used a piece of the ship's side rail as a high-jump stick to fling himself onto the top of the mini-gunner.

"HEY, GET OFF OF ME!" the mini-gunner shouted as he tried to throw Parker off, but in doing so he walked dangerously close to the shark tank.

"Oh, 'eck!" Parker exclaimed when he saw the shark's massive fin in the water and he jumped off the mini-gunner's back.

But the mini-gunner had gone too close to the edge. Due to the size and weight of his weapon, he lost his balance and fell into the tank. Less than five seconds later the shark came up from below and grabbed him in his mouth. His own screams were drowned out by those from Candy and Tracey as the shark then pulled him down into the water leaving a large pool of blood to spread out across the surface.

Everything had gone eerily quiet. Penelope, Parker, Cobblepot and all the others just stared, shocked at the spot where the mini-gunner had been seconds earlier.

"KILL THEM YOU NUMPTY PRATS!" Cobblepot shouted once he'd found his voice. The fighting quickly began again as Candy and Tracey hastily escorted Cobblepot through a big steel door in the ship's superstructure before sealing it behind them.

Penelope saw the door close behind them and knew that they couldn't let them get away. "PARKER, TO ME!"

"COMING, M'LADY!" Parker shouted as he ran across the deck knocking two henchmen armed with baseball bats over in the process.

As Penelope and Parker made their way towards the door that Cobblepot and the ladies had gone through, they suddenly came aware of two red targeting lights shining on their chests from above. Looking up, they saw two henchmen armed with sniper-rifles on the bridge wing.

"GET DOWN, M'LADY!" Parker yelled pushing Penelope behind one of the lifeboat davits just as the two snipers fired at them.

Penelope opened her eyes. She and Parker had only just managed to get to safety in time. "Oh, goodness me!" gasped Penelope as she tried to get her breath back. "That was a close one. Thank you, Parker."

"Just doing my job, m'lady," Parker replied. "Now 'ow are we supposed to deal with those geezers?"

Penelope then remembered a move that she'd been taught by Karolina. But in order to do it, she would need Parker's help and she hoped he'd remember it. "I have an idea," she said. "Let's try Manoeuvre Seven."

Parker's eyes lit up. "H'excellent idea, m'lady!" he said. He then watched the snipers before making a dash towards the superstructure. The snipers saw him and fired their rifles but Parker was able to get where he needed to be where they weren't able to get a clear shot. He then bent down and put his hands down low together with the palms facing upwards.

But before Penelope could run out, one of the sniper's bullets hit a fuel barrel that had been placed inside the lifeboat. It exploded.


	4. Act III

"M'lady?!" Parker cried out staring in horror at the now burning lifeboat. "M'LADY!"

"BE READY, PARKER!" Penelope suddenly shouted back.

Parker breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Thank Cribbens!" he said to himself.

Penelope also had to wait for the right moment before she ran out towards Parker. Once again, the snipers tried to hit her but missed. Penelope put her left boot onto Parker's hands and he used all his strength to push her up into the air. She soon reached the same level as the snipers and was soon above them. Before either of them realised what was happening, she somersaulted through the air before striking them both down with a double-kick. She then threw herself back over the railing of the bridge wing before landing back on the deck below. She was surprised to find Parker propping himself up against the wall.

"Parker, are you okay?" Penelope asked, concerned.

"Ow, me back!" groaned Parker. "You're h'a lot 'eavier than I remembered, m'lady. No h'offence."

"None taken," Penelope said. "I think," she added quietly to herself.

They moved towards the door that Cobblepot had gone through, but as they were about to open it, it burst open, knocking them both backwards onto the deck. They looked up to see a huge eight-foot men step through the door. He wore a black woolly hat and vest and had very large muscles in his dark-skinned arms. This was Fritz, Cobblepot's muscleman.

"Fritzi's gonna make you hurt bad," Fritz said flexing his arms. "Can't say I've ever hit a lady before, but there's always a first time."

Penelope stood up and fixed Fritz with a very hard stare indeed. she took off her jacket and started rolling up the sleeves of her top without taking her eyes of Fritz.

"H'oh boy," Parker chortled. "'e's h'in for it now!"

* * *

After re-entering Earth's atmosphere, Thunderbird 3 soon reached Cape Kennedy and landed on a designated pad given to them by the controllers. At the same time, a truck carrying a very worried Henry and Mary Brown raced out across the grounds escorted by two police cars to where the mighty Thunderbird had landed.

As Beth and Adrienne escorted Judy and Jonathan out, Mary let out a cry of happiness as the four family members ran towards each other before embracing each other. Tears of joy filled both Mary and henry's eyes. Seeing this made Adrienne and Beth feel a bit emotional as well.

After having kissed both her children at least ten times each, Mary came over and gave both the Tracy girls a hug. "Oh, thank you, thank you!" she sobbed. "You saved my kids' lives. How can we ever repay you?"

"You don't have to do anything, Mrs Brown," Beth said. "It's all part of what we do."

"When we broke away from that space-station I thought I'd never see them again," Henry admitted tearfully. "We cannot thank you enough."

"You're welcome, sir," said Adrienne. "Just make sure you all stick together the next time you go on a big adventure together."

"Oh, we will," said henry and Mary rejoined them. "That's a promise."

They turned to head back aboard Thunderbird 3 when Jonathan spoke up. "Adie? Beth?"

"Yes, Jonathan?" they both said turning back.

"How do Judy and I enrol to join your team?" Jonathan asked.

The girls laughed.

"You'd have to become an astronaut before you could do that," said Beth. She winked and then she and Adrienne climbed back aboard Thunderbird 3.

The Browns were hastily herded back into the truck and were quickly driven away to allow Thunderbird 3 the space to lift-off safely. As it climbed into the sky, Judy and Jonathan waved and waved until it was out of sight.

"Base from Thunderbird 3," Beth said. "We're coming home."

"F-A-B!" Daniel acknowledged. "Well done, girls. I'm proud of you."

Beth and Adrienne smiled. They couldn't have felt happier.

* * *

Cobblepot had gone down to his office located on the next deck down from the main deck inside _The Final Offer_. He, Tracey and Candy had locked themselves in to wait for the fighting outside to stop and for the two intruders to be brought down to them either dead or alive.

"How did they know we were 'ere?" Cobblepot asked as he paced furiously up and down the office. "Someone must've been talked – given away our itinerary of where we were going to be and when. This was meant to be a simple drop-off and NOW LOOK AT THE MESS WE'RE IN!"

"I say we 'ave to leave," Tracey said. "We've got the speedboat in the next room. They'd never be able to catch us."

"DON'T BE BLOODY STUPID!" roared Cobblepot. "Those weapons have already been bought and paid for by our friends in London. If they don't get what they've paid for they'll want their money back, and seeing as we've spent most of it, that would present a problem, WOULDN'T IT?!"

Tracey fell silent.

"Bah, you worry too much, ladies," Cobblepot said. "Old Fritzi's up there kicking their arses right now. He'll get rid of them for us."

CRASH!

Candy and Tracey screamed as part of the upper wall burst open and a large object landed heavily on the floor. Cobblepot and the two women froze in disbelief.

"Fritzi?!" exclaimed Cobblepot. "But 'ow?!"

Fritz tried to get up, but he just groaned and then passed out.

Then Penelope appeared at the hole in the wall that Fritz had been knocked through closely followed by Parker. "You're finished, Cobblepot," said Penelope. "The Police have been informed and are on their way. Give up now and we'll go easy on you."

"NEVER!" screamed Cobblepot, his face was red with fury. "NO-ONE ARRESTS THE PENGUIN! DO YOU HEAR ME?! NO-ONE!"

He pointed his umbrella up at Penelope and Parker pulled a trigger on the handle. There was a machine-gun concealed inside it. The umbrella opened up and then bullets began firing out of the tip. This time it was Penelope who pushed Parker out of harm's way as Cobblepot sprayed the walls with bullets.

"GET TO THE BOAT!" Cobblepot shouted.

Tracey and Candy didn't waste a second as they hurried through a concealed door behind Cobblepot's desk. He fired another short round of bullets before going through the door after them.

"Oh blast! 'e's getting h'away!" Parker groaned when they saw that the office was now empty.

"Oh, no, he's not," said Penelope with determination. "We've come too far. Back up to the top deck, Parker. And bring the car around."

Parker pressed a button on his keys which sent a signal to FAB1 which was still parked behind the shipping container. It reversed back out onto the road much to the surprise of some dock workers who'd been taking cover whilst the fighting was going on. They were even more astonished when the car changed into its 'flight-mode' and lifted up off the ground before heading off towards the ship.

Penelope picked up her coat from where she'd left it and hurried over to join Parker at the ship's port side. They were just in time to see a speedboat hurrying past with Cobblepot, Candy and Tracey inside it.

"MARK MY WORDS, YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS, LADY PENELOPE!" Cobblepot shouted. "I SWEAR ON THE GRAVES OF MY PARENTS! I WILL KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOUR FAMILY HAS DONE TO MINE!"

Candy and Tracey both shook their fists angrily at Penelope and Parker as the speedboat raced away from the ship.

Penelope and Parker looked round just as FAB1 emerged from behind the two funnels. It came into a hover just in front of them where they used its wing to gain access to the inside.

"Get after them, Parker," said Penelope once they were inside. "They've got a slight head start on us. Don't switch to 'aqua-mode' until we're out on the river."

"Yus, m'lady," Parker replied.

FAB1 headed off just as the Port Security arrived with the Police. A quick search of the ship revealed its hidden cargo of weapons so at least that was all going to be confiscated and not fall into the wrong hands.

Cobblepot's speedboat had made it through the docks of Tilbury and was now out on the River Thames heading east towards Southend and the North Sea.

"They'll suffer for this, you mark my words, ladies," Cobblepot said to Candy and Tracey as they made their way along. "The Creighton-Ward family destroyed the Cobblepots. Stripped us of all our greatness and power. That is something that must and will be rectified."

"At least they can't follow us now," said Tracey.

But when Candy looked round behind her, she saw something that made her heart leap. "Er, yes, they can!" she cried.

Tracey and Cobblepot turned round to look. There was FAB1 closing in on their position. It then switched to 'aqua-mode' to enable it to run on the surface of the water.

"I DON'T BLOODY BELIEVE IT!" Cobblepot screamed in fury. "WHY CAN'T THEY JUST DIE, ALREADY?! TRACEY, GET RID OF THEM!"

Tracey opened a compartment behind the rear seats and pulled out a Rocket-Propelled-Grenade launcher which she took out and aimed at FAB1. "ALL RIGHT YOU LOSERS, EAT THIS!" she yelled firing the RPG at the car. Parker jerked the steering wheel round to the left and it missed FAB1 by a few metres.

"Well that was unexpected," remarked Penelope. "Shall we take a shot?"

"With pleasure, m'lady," said Parker gleefully. He pressed a button on the dashboard which activated FAB1's own missile launcher.

They were now approaching Gravesend. Tracey had just finished fixing another RPG onto the launcher when she saw the missiles located around FAB1's radiator-grill. She dropped the RPG launcher and screamed in fright as two sleek missiles shot out from the pink Rolls-Royce. They shot directly over the top of the speedboat and landed in the water directly in front of it. They submerged a few meters and then detonated right underneath the speedboat. The explosion created a massive column of water which threw the speedboat and its occupants high into the air. As it flipped over they all fell out as none of them had bothered to put on their seatbelts and landed back in the water again with the speedboat landing upside down a few meters away from the Gravesend pier.

Cobblepot, Candy and Tracey splashed about in the water, coughing and spluttering and trying to grab hold of anything they could find in order to keep themselves afloat. Cobblepot spat some water out of his mouth just as FAB1 pulled up alongside. Penelope opened the gullwing window and leaned out so Cobblepot could see her.

"What's wrong, Oswald?" asked Penelope with triumphant smile on her face. "I thought penguins liked being in water?"

Cobblepot didn't reply. He had no energy left.

Penelope closed the window again and FAB1 lifted up off the water returning to 'flight-mode' before turning round and flying off into the sky leaving Cobblepot to be taken in by the Police who arrived in a boat from Gravesend pier soon after.

Cobblepot looked up as Sergeant Dale Smith of the Metropolitan Police came to look down at him from the pier.

"Well, well, well," said Sergeant Smith. "What have we got here then? Oswald Cobblepot, we are arresting you for illegal gun-running, sales and bribery. you do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned, something that you later rely on in court."

"But I'm innocent!" Cobblepot spluttered.

"Yeah? We'll tell that to the judge," said Smith as he turned to his constables. "And your two little accomplices there are also under arrest for helping you." He then turned to his men. "Leon? Roger? Ben? Get him and those birds of his out of there.

"Yes, Sarge," said PC Leon Taylor. "Lads, let's go!"

It wasn't long before PC Taylor and the other officers had managed to retrieve Cobblepot and the two ladies from the Thames.

"Stop!" cried Cobblepot protested as he was marched towards a waiting Police Van. "You've got the wrong man here! I've got money! I'll give you as much as you want. You can't do this to me! AREN'T YOU BLOODY LISTENING TO ME?! LET ME GO!"

"Save it for the judge, sunshine," said PC Taylor as Cobblepot was placed inside the van and the doors shut in his face.

Tracey and Candy were put into a second van waiting nearby.

"Please, honey, take these bracelets off us," Candy said to some of the other Policemen. "They might damage my little wrists."

"Yeah, this is against our rights!" protested Tracey. "We're not animals, you know!"

"Just be quiet, both of you!" snapped PC Melanie Ryder. "We know what's been going on. You won't be walking out of this." She then slammed the doors in their faces and the two vans set off heading back towards London accompanied by up to twelve cars.

As they travelled along, Tracey and Candy stayed quiet. But Cobblepot was making a racket inside the van he was in. "LET ME OUT OF HERE!" he was yelling. "YOU CAN'T BLOODY HOLD OSWALD CHESTERFIELD COBBLEPOT! I'VE DONE NOTHING WRONG! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUUUTT!"

All the Police Officers simply ignored him as the convoy of Police vehicles raced along the motorway towards the capital.

* * *

The Brown family were back in their hotel near Cape Kennedy. Now that they were alone with no members of NASA or International Rescue around to hear what he had to say, Henry had finally gone into a massive screaming rant at Jonathan and Judy for not coming back to the shuttle when they had been told to. He wasn't so mad at Judy but was furious with Jonathan.

"IRRESPONSIBLE! AND WRECKLESS! AND BLOODY DANGEROUS, JONATHAN! I DO HOPE YOU KNOW ALL THE STRESS AND MISERY YOU PUT UPON US ALL WITH YOUR STUPID ACTIONS!"

"Henry, please, calm down!" Mary tried to say.

"NO, I WILL NOT CALM DOWN, MARY, STAY OUT OF THIS!" bellowed Henry. "WELL?!" he went on to Jonathan. "WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?"

Jonathan didn't answer for a moment. "It was worth it," he said calmly.

Henry's eyes flared up. "WHAT?!" he shouted. "HOW THE HELL WAS THAT WORTH IT?!"

"We got to ride in Thunderbird 3," Judy said. "That was so much cooler than that old pile of pieces."

Henry was shaking with fury. "International Rescue is an organisation for rescuing people who get into accidents," he said. "NOT FOR RESCUING CARELESS CHILDREN IN SPACE-STATIONS!"

"Henry, enough, please!" Mary begged. "You'll upset the other guests."

Henry just grumbled and stormed out of the room. Mary headed off after him leaving Jonathan and Judy alone in the room.

"Don't listen to Dad," Judy said to her brother. "He's just being as you say 'boring and annoying' as usual. You were right. It really was worth it."

Jonathan smiled. "I can't wait to tell Mrs Bird about our little adventure," he said. "Although knowing her, she'll think we're making it up."

Judy grinned too. This was the best the two of them had gotten on in ages.

* * *

Daniel decided not to berate Beth and Adrienne for their risky manoeuvre to get Space-Station Alpha 2-1 away from the Earth before it exploded, but he did remind them that such a move shouldn't really be attempted whilst they had passengers aboard – especially young children.

"As I said to you earlier, I'll let this slide just this once," Daniel concluded. "But next time you have passengers aboard Thunderbird 3, _don't_ do it again. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Dad," Adrienne and Beth said together.

"I'm sorry, Dad," said Adrienne. "I feel such a fool for getting that number wrong."

"Oh, come on, Adie," said Jodie. "You weren't to know that the number you typed in was the one that started the self-destruct sequence."

"Exactly," said Daniel. "Anyone could've made that mistake, Adie. Let it go."

Adrienne smiled. But Beth has spotted an opportunity for mischief.

"Well, not exactly," Beth began. "Only Adie could've made that mistake."

Everyone looked at her.

"How do you mean?" asked Wizzy.

Adrienne fixed Beth with a hard stare. "Don't…" she said.

"I'm guessing you've all forgotten?" said Beth.

"Forgotten what?" asked Laura.

"Beth, don't you dare say it!" said Adrienne sternly. She began to slowly advance towards Beth who slowly began to back away towards the exit of the lounge.

"It's to do with numbers," said Beth.

"Beth, I'm warning you!" Adrienne said, her voice rising.

"Beth, what are you talking about?" asked Laura.

"Yes, what's this got to do with today's mission?" agreed Daniel.

Beth raised her eyebrows. "Oh, come on, Dad," she said with a wicked grin. "Even _you_ managed to pass your maths exam the first time." She turned and bolted out of the room.

"BEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTH!" roared Adrienne sprinting off after her sister as everyone else burst out laughing. "GET BACK HERE AND BE CLOBBERED YOU!"

"Oh, deary me!" Daniel said once he'd stopped laughing. "Poor Adie. She really can't let that one go, can she?"

"Not our fault that Beth is right," remarked Laura. "She was the only one who didn't pass her maths test first time."

"And from what I recall it wasn't the only test either," said Zoë.

"No, certainly it was not," Daniel said with a grin. "Let me tell you a secret, you three. And for the love of God do NOT say a word to anyone about this."

Laura, Katie and Wizzy came over to the desk, intrigued to hear what Daniel was going to say.

"It may have taken Adie two attempts to get the maths test right, but it took her at least five to get a decent score on her biography paper."

The three girls exploded with laughter. They laughed so hard that tears ran down their faces.

"Oh, my days - that's insane!" laughed Katie.

"Don't worry, Dad," Laura said wiping her eyes. "If Beth were to know that, this place would turn into World War Four!"

"Well, the Global Conflict didn't technically cover the whole world," Daniel reminded her. "Not every country took part in it. Only the major ones."

The radio then bleeped. "Ah, Penny!" said Daniel as he recognised the call-symbol shaped like FAB1. "How are we today?"

"Oh, it's been a rather quiet one, Daniel," Penelope replied. "Could really do with something exciting and related to your work."

"You could always come and assist Karolina in searching for The Hood," Daniel said with a grin.

Penelope raised her eyebrows. Encounters between her and The Hood usually resulted in her being in a very perilous situation. "I think I will pass on that one, Daniel," she said. "However, what I was actually calling about was whether you wanted to come to England for the Grand Railway Show later on this year?"

"Grand Railway Show, you say?" asked Daniel with interest. "Think I might have heard of it. It's like the Olympics but for trains."

"I've reason to the believe that the Flying Scotsman will be there," said Penelope. She winked.

"That might well be worth a visit," said Daniel, grinning. "I'll get back to you on that one, Penny."

"Fantastic," said Penelope. "Ah, I'm almost home. Let me know soon, please."

"Of course," said Daniel. "Tracy Island, out."

"Doesn't take much to convince you when steam trains are involved, does it, Dad?" teased Katie.

Laura raised an eyebrow. "Was it me, or did Penelope look as though she'd been in a fight?" she asked.

"She looked okay to me," Wizzy replied. "What makes you ask?"

"Did you not see the state of her hair?" Laura asked. "It was a real mess! I've only known Penelope to not look her best after she's either been in a fight or a situation in which we've had to rescue her."

"As I said, she does more than just work for us," Zoë said. "She's probably busted up some despicable gun-runner trying to smuggle weapons into England. That's the kind of thing she's best at."

The others couldn't help but agree.

* * *

FAB1 reached the entrance to the Creighton Manor estate. The gates opened and it passed through onto the driveway. The gates then closed behind the car as it continued to make its way towards the house.

Unseen by Penelope, Parker and the gatekeeper, a black Audi pulled up next to one of the estate fences. Inside were two shady-looking foreign men who had been watching Penelope for some time.

"Shall we?" asked the man behind the wheel.

"I have it," the man in the passenger seat replied. He was holding a small drone in his hand. "I shall send it in." The man then got out of the car and placed the small drone on the ground. He then powered it up and it was airborne. It flew over the fence and made its way through the trees towards the mansion.

Penelope had just climbed out of FAB1.

"Will you be needing h'anything else tonight, m'lady?" asked Parker.

"No, thank you, Parker," yawned Penelope. "I think I'll just turn in. Good night."

"Good night, m'lady," said Parker. He watched Penelope walk through the doors before climbing back into FAB1 so that he could take it back round to its garage. Neither of them had any idea that there was a small intruder buzzing around the estate.

The two shady men were using the drone to try and find Penelope's bedroom. They guessed correctly that it was on the second floor but had no idea which wing of the mansion it was. They decided to take a look at the West-Wing first. They checked the windows at the front, but they all had curtains drawn so they could not see inside. They then went around to the back and found what they were looking for. Penelope had just entered her bedroom and the curtains were open.

Duchess, Penelope's cat got up and meowed when Penelope entered. "Hello, beautiful," said Penelope stroking her. "I hope the dogs haven't been too unkind to you today?"

Duchess meowed again. Penelope then went to the bathroom to get changed into her night-clothes. She remained completely oblivious to the drone hovering outside her window.

The two men had managed to see all that they needed to. "Okay, you can bring it back now," the driver of the car said.

The second man programmed the drone to return to their position. It passed over the house and headed back towards the road just as Parker was walking back round to the front.

"That's funny," Parker said out loud to himself. "Sounds like h'a bee buzzing h'around." He then looked up and saw the little red lights from the drone. "What the perishing?" he went on. "H'a drone! Oh, those little devils!" Then he had an idea. "Ah, I know!" He then took out his small pistol and put a tiny magnetic explosive inside. He took careful aim at the little flashing lights and fired. The small explosive attached itself to the drone but did not go off. This was because it was now on a five-minute timer. Parker watched the drone disappear beyond the trees. "Whoever that belongs to is going to get h'a surprise," he chuckled.

"Psst! Aloysius!" Parker turned and looked up to see Annette Eclair looking down from her bedroom window. "How long are you going to keep me waiting?" she asked.

"Coming!" Parker said hurrying towards the front doors of the mansion.

The drone soon arrived back at the car. The man in the passenger seat got out to retrieve it and then got back in again.

"We have what we need," the driver said. "Let us get this information back to the boss."

"At long last, the boss shall have his revenge," the second man said.

Laughing loudly, the two men drove off into the night with the drone resting on the back seats. They had no idea that it had been spotted and that there was a little something attached to the drone. And they would no nothing about it either.

Two miles away from the Creighton Estate, as the car made its way across open country in the dark, the man in the passenger seat decided to make a phone call.

"Yes?" a voice at the other end of the phone said. "What have you to report?"

"We have positive location of Lady Penelope's bedroom, boss," the man said.

"And so you should," the boss replied. "Now, where is it?"

"It's in the…"

BOOM!

Parker's little explosive device had reached the end of its countdown and detonated. The car was blown to pieces - along with everything inside it. As the two men lay dead amongst the wreckage, the angry boss kept shouting at them through the phone.

"Hello? What has happened? Where in the house is Lady Penelope's bedroom located. Where is it?! Hello?! Answer my question, you fools! ANSWER ME!"

But there was nobody to answer. The bodies of the two men and the remains of the burning car just sat in the same spot where they had been destroyed, miles from the nearest village and nobody around to witness what had just happened.


End file.
